Africa’s youngest billionaire, Tanzanian tycoon Mohammed Dewji has been kidnapped in Dar es Salaam, the country’s capital city.

The 43-year-old mogul was walking into the Colosseum Hotel and Fitness Club in Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam for his routine gym session during the early hours of Thursday morning when two white men and an unknown number of accomplices in two cars waylaid him and quickly drove away.

Dar es Salaam special zone police commander Lazaro Mambosasa said security personnel around the country have been put on high alert in the hunt for the abductors. He also appealed for support from members of the public to report any information that may help to track the abductors.

Dewji is one of the key players in private sector-led development Tanzania today, well known for being a leader in local employment and manufacturing in East and Central Africa. 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. According to FORBES Magazine, he has a net worth of $1.5 billion.