ABUJA -- Nigeria has signed a deal to borrow $600 million from China's Export-Import Bank, most of which will be used to build a railway servicing the capital Abuja and surrounding areas, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

The Abuja railway, which is being built by the State-owned China Civil Engineering Construction Corp, will cost $500 million and is due to be completed by 2015.

A further $100 million of debt will be used for Nigeria's Galaxy Backbone project, which is aimed at improving security and giving young people better access to technology.

One strand of the new railway will link Abuja city center with the international airport and the other plans to connect surrounding commuter regions with the capital. Roads around the capital are poorly maintained, congested and dangerous.

"The light rail in Abuja will improve transportation for all residents, especially the working class," Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said at the signing agreement with China Exim bank in Beijing.