ADDIS ABABA, March 10 (Reuters) – Ethiopia plans to build a railway network spanning 5,000 km (3,107 miles) to connect different parts of the vast Horn of Africa nation as it develops its energy and mineral resources, a minister said on Monday.

Transport and Communication Minister Junedine Sado said work on the railway line is expected to start in the near future and that the government had established an agency to look into the construction of the railway line.

“As the country develops its natural resources in the field of mining — exploiting its vast deposits of iron ore in the west, gas and oil fields in the east and commercial agriculture — it requires an effective transportation system,” he told reporters.

Junedine did not say where the funding would come from.

But at least one foreign firm, the U.S. Ayr Logistics Limited has expressed interest in investing in the project.

A joint Ethiopian-Djibouti railway line spanning over 1,000 kms connects landlocked Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa with the Red Sea port of Djibouti.