Dates, time and Ethiopian calendar
- Ethiopians follow a solar calendar that is unique as it is almost similar to Julian and Coptic calendars.
- A year has 13 months with the first 12 months having 30 days and the last month consisting of 5 days or 6 days in a leap year.
- Christmas is celebrated on January 7th.
- New Year is celebrated on September 11 or 12th and there is a 8 year gap with the Gregorian calendar.
- Meskel celebrations that commemorates the founding of the cross are held on 26th or 27th September.
- A typical Ethiopian day begins at 6am when the sun rises and is considered as 1.
- To change the Ethiopian time to western clock, add or subtract 6 hours to the western time zone.
Time concept and punctuality
- Just like any African country, time concept in Ethiopia is not held with much importance.
- Rigidity in schedules and meetings is not part of the Ethiopian culture. Meetings here are known to start with lots of social pleasantries characterized with drinking coffee and tea.
- Satisfaction and agreement in meetings are what determine the time which a meeting ends and not during a scheduled time.
- Greetings that are quite formal and courteous happen in business meetings with government officials being referred as “Excellency” without necessarily calling out their names.
Office hours and weekend concept
- Offices here open at 8:30am to 5:30pm in the evening with lunch-breaks running from 12:30pm to1:30pm on Mondays to Thursdays.
- Fridays is an exceptional day as work starts at 11:30am to 1:30pm. With Saturdays, work begins at 8am to 12pm and offices are never open on Sundays.
Public holidays
- Ethiopian calendar has lots of public holidays running throughout the year with the most remarkable ones being on September 11th where people celebrate the Ethiopian New Year.
- On September 27th, locals here celebrate The Finding of the True Cross (Meskel), January 7th is the Ethiopian Christmas, January 19th is the Ethiopian Epiphany and January 24th is Prophet Mohammed’s Birthday (Maulid).
- Public holidays in the country are held with utmost importance and respect
