Mohammed Dewji, Tanzania's richest man and Africa's youngest billionaire was kidnapped on Thursday in Dar es Salaam, reports BBC Africa.

The 43-year-old former ruling party MP was on his way to the gym at an upscale hotel in the neighborhood of Oyster Bay when he was taken on a busy street. According to eyewitness reports from the BBC, the three kidnappers shot off bullets before driving off with Dewji. Two of the men are believed to be white foreign nationals.

Dewji runs MeTL, a multi-establishment company operating in six African countries which was founded by his father in the 1970s. He also sponsors the Tanzanian soccer club, Simba. According to Forbes, he is Tanzania's sole billionaire with a net worth of $1.5 billion. In 2016 he pledged to give half of his fortune to philanthropic causes.

Despite being one of Tanzania's most recognizable figures, Dewji, affectionately nicknamed Mo, is known to move around with little to no security, as many successful businessmen are known to do in the country.

Despite earlier reports that the billionaire had been found, police commissioner Lazaro Mambosaso tells CNN that this is not the case.

The police continue their search and have arrested three men in connection to the kidnapping, the exact motivation behind the abduction unclear, though according to CNN, it is thought to likely be a "ransom" kidnapping.

Dweji's abduction has come as a shock to many in the country as we as to folks online who are hoping for his safe return.