The heat is unbearable; the haze merges the sky, lake and land; kingfishers dive and rise as if playing with the wind coming off Lake Albert, near vast oil reserves which Uganda wants to start exploiting.

This section of the Rift Valley - a geological scar which runs through East Africa - is being transformed by a fledgling oil business.

There are environmental concerns and questions over whether it is too late for an oil boom - but there is no disputing that change is coming to the wide valley floor, below the steep escarpment.

One end is dotted with iron-sheet houses, at the other excavators are busy clearing ground for what will be the Kingfisher oil field's main processing facility in mid-western Uganda.

A once-treacherous dirt road leading down the valley side is now a winding tarmacked route which carries the equipment needed.