Time Concept

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 chats 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