Key points:

- Senator Gichuhi claimed the government would pay for scholarships for "10,000" African students this year.

- Pauline Hanson attacked the scheme for wasting taxpayer funds.

- The foreign minister confirmed the real number was 495 places for students from 22 African countries.

A Facebook post from Liberal Senator Lucy Gichuhi that claimed the Australian government would fund 10,000 scholarships for African students dramatically inflated the number of places, SBS News can reveal.

The “10,000” figure was repeated in The Australian and sparked an outraged response from One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, who called the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)-supported program a “disgraceful waste of taxpayer money”.

But SBS News can now reveal the figure was incorrect.

Senator Gichuhi's adviser confirmed she had received “advice that the post was fake”.

“We will be posting an apology," the staffer told SBS News.

Twitter/Malcolm Turnbull

Minutes later, an apology was uploaded to the senator’s Facebook page.

“The office has been a victim of fake news. We apologise for any inconvenience,” it read.

Foreign minister Julie Bishop told SBS News there would only be an estimated 495 places for students from 22 African countries in 2018 "with an estimated cost of $31.8 million".

The African scholarships are funded as part of DFAT's 'Australia Awards', which cost the taxpayer an estimated $320 million this financial year. But the program funds scholarships for students from dozens of countries across the Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East.

"This year the Australian Government is providing more than 4,000 Australia Awards to emerging leaders from more than 40 countries in Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean," Ms Bishop said.

“Australia Award recipients gain skills and knowledge that help drive economic and social development in their home countries, through study and practical experience. Since 2011, Australia has provided more than 4,800 Australia Awards to applicants from 51 African countries."

Senator Gichuhi's error can be traced back to dozens of pages across the web that reference the “10,000” figure. A Facebook page called ‘AfricanUnion’ shared a link to a page with the wrong figure.

An academic paper in the Australasian Review of African Studies published in 2013 said the program “increased from 100 scholarships in nine countries in 2007/2008 to 1,000 scholarships in 2012/2013 to over 35 countries, which represents growth of 900 per cent.”

Hanson sticks to her guns

Just over an hour after Senator Gichuhi’s retraction, Senator Hanson appeared on Sydney radio station 2GB to defend her comments.

Host Chris Smith described the program as “overgenerous”.

“Why can’t it be 1,000 or 500 [scholarship places], why do we have to offer it to 10,000?” he asked.

Senator Hanson agreed the program was “overgenerous” and suggested she still believed the 10,000 figure, despite Senator Gichuhi’s retraction.

“I’m actually furious about this, Chris. I’m sick and tired of the government giving away our money,” the One Nation leader said.

“[Lucy Gichuhi] has taken it down, she’s called it now ’fake news’. So I’m asking the Department of Foreign Affairs for a please explain.”

“Is this fake news or is it fair dinkum? I think it’s fair dinkum.”

Earlier, in a statement to SBS News, Senator Hanson said the figures were "put out by a government senator, and the people want to know the truth".

"The government might want to call it fake news but the price tag looks very real," she said.

Independent senator Fraser Anning, once a member of One Nation himself, backed Senator Hanson's criticisms.

He said the money would be better spent on supporting white South African farmers, who he said were facing a "genocide" earlier this year.

"If we are going to be spending this money on Africans, we should be using it to compensate and bring the white farmers who have had their land stolen by the South African government here," he told tHE Australian.

Crossbench senator Cory Bernardi said the error was "probably a case of ‘unconscious bias’."