KAMPALA, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini is scheduled to visit Uganda this week as Italy's interest in the East African country's oil sector continues to grow.

    Patrick Guma, spokesman for Uganda's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed to Xinhua by telephone on Wednesday about the minister's visit on his seven-nation African tour, including Mauritania, Mali, Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt and Tunisia.

    During the visit, Frattini will meet Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa.

    Frattini in a statement ahead of his visit said Italian interest in Africa continues to grow, describing Africa as a continent with enormous potential in human capital, a major supplier of raw materials and a market of 900 million consumers.

    "Italy is focusing with new and closer attention on the African continent, in the conviction that there is a different Africa from the one traditionally depicted as a land of poverty, disease and endemic conflicts," he said in a statement carried by the state owned New Vision daily on Wednesday.

    Italian oil giant Eni Spa has shown interest in buying the stake of Heritage Oil in Uganda's two largest oil blocks, according to the paper. The deal is subject to approval by the Ugandan government.

    The Irish company Tullow Oil, which co-owns the oil blocks, has the first option to buy the shares under its agreement with Heritage.

    Recently, Ugandan officials visited the Eni headquarters in Italy, and Frattini's visit is seen as a move to push the oil deal.

    Eni says it has the capacity to undertake the entire petroleum value chain, from exploration through refining to marketing and sale of petroleum products.

    Museveni recently said the development of the oil sector including oil production will be done through the private sector including international companies.

    Uganda's recently discovered oil has attracted a lot of international attention, with its reserves in the western part of the country estimated to hit billions of barrels.

    The country, however, lacks enough funds to build a medium-sized oil refinery to meet domestic and regional oil demand.

    Oil experts say the country needs more than 2 billion U. S. dollars, a third of the country's national budget to construct the refinery.