This archive report was first published on 31 October 2019.
On October 12, 2018, Tanzanian billionaire Mohammed Dewji was abducted outside a hotel gym in Dar es Salaam, sparking a massive manhunt.
Speaking to the BBC for the first time about his ordeal, Mr Dewji revealed that he was blindfolded and disoriented when he made the plea to his kidnapper to shoot him.
"I was blindfolded and there were times they kept on threatening me with guns to my head and five days, six days into it I was thinking I was losing my eye sight," Mr Dewji told BBC Focus on Africa's Audrey Brown.
"[The kidnapper] was like 'I'm going to shoot you' and I was like 'you can shoot me and kill me', because I was losing it. You get disoriented, you're tired, because it's a form of torture."
Mr Dewji was released after 10 days, with no ransom paid, and has since thanked people for praying for his safety.
He believes the kidnappers gave up due to pressure built up from media and political attention, and that there were around three or four foreigners involved who have fled the country.
Mr Dewji is credited with turning his family business from a wholesale and retail enterprise into a pan-African conglomerate, with interests in textile manufacturing, flour milling, beverages, and edible oils in at least six African countries.
Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at around $1.5bn, making him Africa's youngest billionaire.
