Africa´s youngest billionaire kidnapped in Tanzania

Tanzanian billionaire Mohammed Dewji has been kidnapped in early Thursday morning incident which spread like a bush-fire on social media platforms. Two of the men are believed to be white foreign nationals.

His conglomerate, the METL Group, operates in over 35 industries as diverse as trading, agriculture, manufacturing, energy and petroleum, financial services, mobile telephony, infrastructure and real estate, transport, logistics and distribution.

"Also in the report, the Dar es Salaam police chief, Lazaro Mambosasa, at a press conferences said the kidnappers had "shot into the air" before bundling Mr Dewji into a vehicle".

Police have launched a manhunt into circumstances that led to the abduction of Mr Dewji who ranks as one of the richest Tanzanians at Colosseum Hotel as he walked into a gym. He served as an MP from 2005 to 2015.

Police have already made some arrests.

Dewji was the first Tanzanian to be featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine in 2013 and has been featured on three separate occasions.

Eye witnesses said four unidentified people arrived before the businessman and parked at the hotel.

According to The Guardian, the regional governor, Paul Makonda, said Mr Dewji was kidnapped by whites travelling in two vehicles.

Mohammed Dewji, 43, is Africa's youngest billionaire, according to Forbes.

Dar es Salaam special zone commander said security police around the country, including at airports and all exit points have been put on high alert in the hunt for the abductors.

Dewji is the owner and president of the multi-billion dollar revenue Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Ltd (METL Group) and a former member of parliament for the ruling CCM party. In 2016 he pledged to give half of his fortune to philanthropic causes.