Ghana’s flagship One District One Factory (1D1F) programme is facing fresh scrutiny after an arrears audit uncovered what officials say is a fictitious debt of GH¢89.4 million tied to the initiative.
The findings were presented to Parliament of Ghana on Monday, March 10, 2026. Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem delivered the statement on behalf of Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson.
According to the statement, the former Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2024 requested the release of GH¢89.4 million to five commercial banks. The funds were supposed to cover the government’s share of interest payments under the 1D1F programme.
The 1D1F initiative introduced under former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party was designed to boost industrialisation by establishing at least one factory in every district across the country.
Following the request, the Ministry of Finance processed the payment and forwarded it to the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department.
But things took a surprising turn during verification.
Auditors from the Ghana Audit Service, working with international firms Ernst & Young and PwC, reached out to the five banks involved. All of them reportedly said the government did not owe them any money under the arrangement.
That meant the GH¢89.4 million debt simply did not exist.
Officials told Parliament that without the audit check, the government could have mistakenly paid out nearly GH¢90 million of public funds to settle a liability that wasn’t real.
The audit also flagged another suspicious case involving GH¢10.5 million that was reportedly paid into a “Buffer Account” at a commercial bank.
When auditors followed up, the bank said no such payment had been received. Even more worrying, the account number provided didn’t exist in the bank’s system and didn’t match its account numbering format.
Investigators concluded that the supposed account appeared to be completely fictitious.
In response, the government has announced plans to carry out a full forensic audit of the entire 1D1F programme to uncover any other irregularities.
Deputy Minister Ampem said the deeper probe is necessary given the amount of public funds involved. As of the end of 2024, government had already spent about GH¢391 million on interest subsidies under the programme.
“Mr Speaker, only God knows how much taxpayers’ money may have been lost through similar fictitious claims,” he told Parliament.
