LAGOS, Nigeria - Nigeria says it has secured a $900 million loan from China to boost infrastructure in Africa's most populous country, the Associated Press reported Friday. 

Minister of Finance Olusegun Aganga told the reporters that the Nigerian government had signed a $900 million loan agreement with the Export-Import Bank of China for the construction of a $500-million railway in the capital and a $400-million public security communications project.

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While Nigerian commercial banks avoid risk, China has become a major financier of projects across the continent, the report said. 

A Chinese report released Thursday said that China's direct investment in Africa had reached $9.33 billion in 2009, a jump from $490 million in 2003.