Search for abducted Tanzanian billionaire still on

Tanzania's police chief Simon Sirro said on Friday that police had intensified search for the country's billionaire who was abducted on Thursday.

Mohamed Dewji, 43, was kidnapped at about 5.30 a.m. Thursday as he was about to enter a hotel gym for his routine workout in the leafy Oysterbay area in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

Speaking more than 24 hours after he was kidnapped by unknown armed people described as foreigners, Inspector General of Police Sirro said police will not leave any stone unturned in search of Dewji, dubbed as Africa's youngest billionaire.

Lazaro Mambosasa, Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander, said the police had tightened security at all exit points including airports, roads going out of the city, the Indian Ocean shores and other border posts.

"We are conducting an intensive search and investigation following Dewji's kidnap," said Mambosasa.

"We are also continuing with the interrogations of all the 12 suspects who were arrested in connection with Dewji's abduction," he added.

Mambosasa elaborated that until Friday there were no new clues leading to the whereabouts of the young billionaire.

According to the police, the kidnappers shot into the air before bundling the tycoon into a waiting car.

Soft-spoken Dewji is the chief executive and leading shareholder of the MeTL Group, a family owned Tanzanian conglomerate with operations in manufacturing, agriculture, haulage, trading and real estate.

It is one of the largest industrial conglomerates in east Africa, with annual revenues hitting about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars and a workforce of more than 20,000 people.

Since MeTL Group already contributes about 3.5 percent of Tanzania's gross domestic product, it is fast outgrowing national boundaries, working across 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond.