Tanzania, April 4 -- Last weekend, the government announced that Emirates National Group (ENG) has won an international tender to become the second operator for Dar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) services.

The decision ends Udart's monopoly as the sole service operator for the first phase of Dart since 2016.

This is also the culmination of the not-so-secret attempt to ensure that a private - read foreign - firm operates Dart's infrastructure.

The story is a long one, going back to the very beginning of Dart.

The idea for Dart emerged in 2002 when the World Bank engaged the government of Tanzania to provide a loan facility for financing the BRT services in Dar.

With Dar's notorious traffic congestion possibly at its worst then, the idea coul...