Africa's Youngest Billionaire Kidnapped by Gunmen in Tanzania Luxury Hotel

Mohammed Dewji, widely known as Africa's "youngest billionaire," has been kidnapped.

The MeTL Group president was abducted by several armed men outside a luxury hotel's gym facilities in Dar es Salaam at approximately 6:30 a.m. local time, CNNreports. The abductors were able to enter the hotel grounds thanks to gates "believed to have been left open deliberately," at which point they discharged their weapons and apprehended Dewji before fleeing the scene. Though a motive has not been formally determined, early police investigations point to the incident being a ransom-related abduction.

"Initial information indicates he was kidnapped by whites traveling in two vehicles," regional governor Paul Makonda told the Guardian Thursday morning. "This kind of incident is new here." Hotel staff are being interviewed by investigators. As of Thursday morning, police had confirmed multiple arrests but added they are still actively looking for suspects. Earlier reports claiming that Dewji had been rescued have since been deemed by local authorities as fabrications.

Dewji had been active on his official Twitter account as recently as Wednesday, tweeting about schools' not teaching students about personal budgeting and calling chaos management a "lifelong skill."