Philip Abel

Philip Abel is the co-founder and CTO of Cleva, the fintech platform he built alongside Tolu Alabi to give Nigerians and other Africans real USD bank accounts held in the United States. Based in the United States, Abel leads the technical development of Cleva's infrastructure — the systems that allow users across the continent to open, operate, and receive international payments into dollar-denominated accounts without needing to be physically present in the US. The company was accepted into Y Combinator's Winter 2024 cohort and secured a Central Bank of Nigeria International Money Transfer Operator licence, cementing its regulatory standing as infrastructure for Africans who earn globally.

Abel belongs on the Borderless 100 because access to dollar banking is one of the highest-leverage tools available to African professionals and businesses engaged in the global economy. The technology he builds is the foundation on which that access rests, and his technical leadership has been as central to Cleva's credibility as the business profile his co-founder brings.