A new stock exchange is poised to be unveiled in the next 24 months in the resource-rich country of Guinea, a central bank official told Reuters on Tuesday.

The opening of the bourse in this West African country is aimed at generating funding for the country’s troubled mining sector.

This exchange will increase the number of these entities in Africa to arguably 30 with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange occupying the top position in terms of size.

The Johannesburg bourse is also among the top 10 bourses in the world with more than 400 companies listed on it.

According to Reuters, Guinea is already the world’s leading exporter of the aluminium ore bauxite.

So, the country sought to grow other mining prospects including the Simandou mine, one of the world’s largest untouched iron ore deposits.

“Guinea is an important mining and agricultural country … There is a financing problem. Traditional financing through the banks is no longer effective,” Reuters quoted Mamady Fofana, director of lending for the central bank, as saying.

“So we must find other methods both to finance these companies and for the country’s growth,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Ivory Coast’s commercial capital, Abidjan.

Fofana also told the news agency that Guinea’s authorities were preparing a shortlist of companies to be listed on the new exchange.

“We’ll start with a maximum of 10 companies, mainly from the mining sector as well as a few industrial firms and banks,” Fofana reportedly said.