What is The August Project TAP?

The August Project (TAP) is UNESCO REF's ten-year dual-country capacity-building initiative launched in Nigeria on August 12, 2017 and in the United Kingdom on May 10, 2019. It develops Intellectual, Leadership, Economic, and Digital Technology capacity among Nigerian youth across all 36 states and the FCT. The highest achievers progress to the SIP-ALPHA Capstone Programme.

How does TAP contribute to UN SDG 8?

TAP addresses SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth by building financial intelligence, entrepreneurial competency, and enterprise skills among Nigerian youth at national scale. By reducing the entrepreneurial deficit and equipping graduates with internationally certified qualifications, TAP converts Nigeria's demographic dividend into productive economic participation.

Why was TAP launched in both Nigeria and the United Kingdom?

The dual-country launch positions Nigerian youth not merely as participants in the domestic economy but as internationally competitive professionals whose qualifications are recognised globally. The UK launch provides international institutional anchoring and access to British subject-matter expertise while the Nigerian launch delivers at the scale and in the communities where impact matters most.

How does TAP contribute to UN SDG 8?

TAP addresses SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth by building financial intelligence, entrepreneurial competency, and enterprise skills among Nigerian youth at national scale, converting Nigeria's demographic dividend into productive economic participation.

Why was TAP launched in Nigeria and the United Kingdom?

The dual-country launch positions Nigerian youth as internationally competitive professionals whose qualifications are recognised globally. The UK launch provides international institutional anchoring and access to British subject-matter expertise and ABE certification while the Nigeria launch delivers at scale in the communities where impact is needed most.

The August Project (TAP) | UNESCO REF | 4 Pillars, Papers and Programme Pathways The August Project · TAP · UNESCO REF · Nigeria & United Kingdom

The August Project (TAP), UNESCO REF

The August Project is the ten-year capacity-building programme of the Read and Earn Federation for UNESCO (UNESCO REF), launched in Nigeria on August 12, 2017 and in the United Kingdom on May 10, 2019. It develops four capacities among Nigerian youth: Intellectual, Leadership, Economic and Digital Technology, aligned with SDG 4, SDG 8 and the African Union Agenda 2063.

The 4 Pillars

Intellectual Capacity Development: The Intellectual Capacity pillar is the foundation on which the other three pillars of The August Project are built. It develops the ability to think clearly, reason from evidence, solve problems that have not been seen before and communicate ideas with precision. These are the capabilities that employers across the world now rank above any single technical skill, and they are the capabilities least reliably produced by systems of education that reward memorisation over judgement. Award: UNESCO REF Certificate of Proficiency in Intellectual Capacity Development.
Leadership Capacity Development: The Leadership Capacity pillar develops the ethical, strategic and institutional capabilities that allow a person to lead others well and to build organisations that outlast their founders. It is premised on a simple observation: Nigeria does not lack talented people who rise to positions of responsibility, but it has no systematic national pipeline that prepares them for that responsibility before they arrive. Award: UNESCO REF Certificate of Proficiency in Ethical Leadership and Governance Capacity.
Economic Capacity Development: The Economic Capacity pillar is TAP's principal contribution to Sustainable Development Goal 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth. It develops the financial intelligence, enterprise skills and confidence that allow a young person to create value: to manage money well, to build a business that survives, or to contribute as an enterprising professional within an organisation. Award: UNESCO REF Certificate of Proficiency in Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship.
Digital Technology Capacity Development: The Digital Technology Capacity pillar prepares young Nigerians to create value in an economy being reshaped by digital technology and artificial intelligence. It develops digital fluency for everyday and professional life, the responsible and critical use of artificial intelligence, and pathways into technical skills such as data, programming and digital enterprise. Award: UNESCO REF Certificate of Proficiency in Digital Technology and Innovation Capacity.

The TAP Papers

Beyond the Wellhead: Human Development and the Limits of Oil-Led Growth in Nigeria

For more than sixty years, oil has defined Nigeria's place in the world economy and the structure of its public finances. Yet the decades of oil wealth have coincided with persistent poverty, low human capital and repeated economic shocks. This paper argues that Nigeria's decisive resource is not the oil beneath its soil but the people above it. It reviews the evidence on the resource curse, including the channels of price volatility, Dutch disease, weak institutions and the neglect of education; it sets out the economics of human capital, which shows that the greater part of the wealth of nations lies in people rather than in natural resources; and it draws lessons from countries such as Indonesia, Botswana, Malaysia and Norway that used resource revenues to build human capability. With the global energy transition shortening the horizon of oil demand and Nigeria's population projected to exceed 350 million by mid-century, the paper concludes that the conversion of natural wealth into human development is no longer a choice but the central development task. It closes by setting out what this implies for public policy and for programmes such as The August Project.

Author: UNESCO REF, 2026.

Personal Reinvention and Transformation: A Theory of Self-Renewal for a Changing World of Work

The world of work is changing faster than the careers built for it. Skills lose their value more quickly, the sectors that once absorbed Nigeria's graduates are saturated, and individuals can expect to change roles, fields and even professions several times in a working life. This paper develops a theory of personal reinvention and transformation: the deliberate, evidence-informed renewal of a person's capabilities, identity and direction in response to changed circumstances. It draws on transformative learning theory, the psychology of identity and possible selves, self-efficacy and motivation, career construction and adaptability, and the theory of unlearning, and it connects these with African understandings of personhood and destiny, including the Yoruba concept of Orí. The paper proposes a five-stage cycle of reinvention, from awareness through unlearning, experimentation and integration to contribution, and reviews the evidence on interventions that help people change, including mentoring and personal initiative training. It addresses the risk that a focus on personal change can obscure structural barriers, and it concludes by setting out how the four pillars of The August Project and the Professional Diploma in Personal Reinvention and Transformation are designed to make reinvention a teachable discipline rather than a matter of chance.

Author: UNESCO REF, 2026.

TAP Programme Pathways

2.0 Unskilled Youths: The Unskilled Youths pathway serves young Nigerians who have left school without formal skills or qualifications. It offers a structured first step into learning and work, building foundational literacy, numeracy, digital and life skills, and leading to an internationally benchmarked entry-level certificate.
2.1 Skilled Youths: The Skilled Youths pathway serves young people who already have practical skills, often acquired through apprenticeship or work, but lack formal recognition of them. It formalises existing competence, adds advanced skills and provides international certification, so that skill becomes a portable credential.
2.2 Graduates: The Graduates pathway serves university and polytechnic graduates whose qualifications need to be translated into demonstrable professional competence. It responds to a structural reality: the sectors that traditionally absorbed graduates are saturated, and graduates must be prepared to redirect their talent towards unmet national needs and new frontier sectors.
2.3 TAP Kids Programme: The TAP Kids Programme develops curiosity, critical thinking, creativity and the habit of reading in children before secondary education shapes their attitudes to learning. It applies the principles of the Intellectual pillar at an age when they are most easily formed.
2.3+ TAP Teens Programme: The TAP Teens Programme bridges secondary education and professional life. Under its Skilled and Caregiver Training (SCT) component, it builds age-appropriate competence in reasoning, leadership, financial literacy and digital skills, and introduces practical and caregiving skills of value to families and communities.
2.4 TAP Private Loan Scheme: The TAP Private Loan Scheme addresses one of the most binding constraints on young entrepreneurs: access to capital. It connects participants who have demonstrated enterprise readiness through the Economic pillar with private finance on structured terms, so that viable plans are not abandoned for lack of start-up or working capital.
2.5 Small Scale Entrepreneurs: The Small Scale Entrepreneurs pathway, known as Business Stay Up, supports enterprises in their early and fragile years. Most small businesses that fail do so early, for want of advice, markets and management. The pathway provides sustained advisory support, market linkage and mentoring so that start-ups survive and become durable businesses.
2.5+ Medium Scale Entrepreneurs: The Medium Scale Entrepreneurs pathway supports established enterprises ready to grow: to expand production, enter national markets and build the management systems that sustained growth requires. Medium-sized firms are the missing middle of many African economies, and their growth creates a disproportionate share of formal jobs.
2.6 TAP Summer Camp: The TAP Summer Camp is an intensive residential programme that accelerates skills, forms leadership and builds friendships across Nigeria's geopolitical zones. Living and working together for a concentrated period, participants learn to lead across differences of region, language and faith.
2.7 TAP (Nigerian) Diaspora: The Diaspora pathway channels the expertise, networks and capital of Nigerians abroad towards the national TAP mission. The Nigerian diaspora is among the most highly educated migrant communities in several countries, and its remittances are among the largest received by any African country.
2.8 TAP Export: The TAP Export pathway helps graduates and partner enterprises turn local competence into global commerce. It provides support in market research, standards, documentation and logistics for enterprises seeking to sell beyond Nigeria, including within the African Continental Free Trade Area.
2.9 TAP Partnership (PIG): The TAP Partnership pathway, the PIG framework of Private Sectors, Individuals and Government Institutes, is the multi-stakeholder arrangement through which TAP is funded, validated and delivered at national scale. No single institution can deliver a ten-year national programme; partnership is the architecture that makes it possible.

Full dossiers for every pillar and pathway are held by UNESCO REF and shared with accredited partners on request: [email protected].