Not legal, tax, or investment advice — and not authorization for any transaction. U.S. sanctions (the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 CFR Part 515) heavily restrict — and in most cases prohibit — dealings between U.S. persons and Cuba, including any form of investment or equity in a Cuban business. The rules are complex, fact-specific, and change; nothing on this site is a determination that any transaction is lawful. Structure anything Cuba-facing only with qualified OFAC sanctions counsel, and screen every party (names, entities, wallets) with QvaPay Sentinel.

Primary sources: OFAC Cuba Sanctions · 31 CFR Part 515 (CACR) · OFAC Cuba FAQs · Cuba Restricted List

The full economy

Sectors & the buildout gap

What exists, what's broken, and what needs to be built — across every sector of Cuba's economy. The private-sector lane is the only one supportable today (via QvaPay); the rest is the atlas of the opportunity when a new, free Cuba rises from the ashes of communism.

10,985,974

Population

$137 billion (in 2016 US dollars)

GDP (2017 est. (PPP and official exchange rate))

73.4%

Services share

22.7%

Industry share

Macro: CIA World Factbook (see Data & methodology).

Ports

15 assets4 need buildout

Deepwater terminals, the Mariel gateway, cruise & bulk.

TC Mariel + ZED Mariel🔴Port of Havana🔴Port of Santiago de Cuba (Guillermón Moncada)🔴Port of Cienfuegos🔴Port of Moa🟡Matanzas Supertanker Base🔴Port of Antilla / Nipe Bay🔴Havana Docks Cruise Terminal🔴Port of Nuevitas (Puerto Tarafa / Pastelillo)🔴Port of Cárdenas🔴Port of Manzanillo🔴Port of Casilda (Trinidad)🔴Port of Isabela de Sagua🔴Puerto Carúpano (Cayo Juan Claro, Puerto Padre Bay)🔴Port of Guayabal🔴

Rail

7 assets7 need buildout

The only railroad in the Caribbean — near-total recapitalization needed.

National Railway Network (UFC)🔴Central Line (Havana–Santiago)🔴Hershey Electric Railway (Casablanca–Hershey–Matanzas)🔴Estación Central de La Habana (Havana Central Station)🔴National Rolling Stock & Locomotive Recapitalization🔴Sugar-Mill Railway Network (AZCUBA)🔴Havana Suburban Railway🔴

Roads, bridges & tunnels

8 assets

Highways, bridges, tunnels and causeways — the unfinished national expressway included.

Autopista Nacional (A1, 'Ocho Vías')🔴Carretera Central (CN)🔴Vía Blanca (Havana–Matanzas–Varadero)🔴Puente de Bacunayagua🔴Túnel de la Bahía de La Habana (Havana Bay Tunnel)🔴Circuito Norte (Northern Circuit)🔴Pedraplén Caibarién–Cayo Santa María🔴Pedraplén Cayo Coco (Morón–Cayo Coco Causeway)🔴

Energy & power plants

18 assets5 need buildout

A grid in crisis — thermoelectric plants, the solar buildout, oil, gas & wind.

Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Plant🔴Lidio Ramón Pérez 'Felton' Power Plant🔴China-Backed National Solar Program🔴Ciro Redondo Bioelectric Plant🟡Boca de Jaruco / Varadero Oil Fields🟡La Herradura Wind Farms🔴Cuban Electric Company (national grid)🔴Belot Oil Refinery (Esso/Exxon)🔴Texaco Refinery (Santiago)🔴Camilo Cienfuegos Oil Refinery🔴CTE Máximo Gómez (Mariel)🔴CTE Ernesto Guevara (Santa Cruz del Norte)🔴CTE Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (Cienfuegos)🔴CTE Antonio Maceo (Renté)🔴CTE Diez de Octubre (Nuevitas)🔴CTE Otto Parellada (Tallapiedra)🔴Energas Boca de Jaruco (Sherritt JV)🟡Karpowership Floating Powerships (Cuba fleet)🟡

Water

3 assets

Leaking aqueducts, wastewater and tourism-zone desalination.

Albear Aqueduct / Cuenca Vento (Havana supply)🔴Aguas de La Habana (operator) + Almendares wastewater🟡Cayo Coco / Jardines del Rey Desalination🔴

Mining

11 assets5 need buildout

Nickel & cobalt — Cuba holds ~6% of world Ni reserves (USGS).

Moa Nickel + Cobalt Belt🟡Las Camariocas Nickel Project🔴Las Camariocas Nickel Plant (unfinished)🔴Nicaro Nickel Plant ('René Ramos Latour')🔴Castellanos Zinc-Lead Mine🟡Matahambre Copper Mine🔴El Cobre Copper District🔴Mercedita Chromite (Moa-Baracoa)🔴Camagüey Chromite District🔴La Demajagua Gold-Silver Project (Delita)🟡Descanso Gold Mine🔴

Agriculture

4 assets2 need buildout

Tobacco, sugar, coffee — terroir the world pays a premium for.

Vuelta Abajo Tobacco Region🟡AZCUBA Sugar Mills Network🔴United Fruit Sugar (Boston & Preston mills)🔴Central Hershey / Camilo Cienfuegos (sugar)🔴

Tourism

1 assets

Heritage cities and the dollarized cays; private hospitality.

Hotel Nacional / Habana Riviera🔴

Telecom

1 assets

Confiscated phone system; a thin, state-controlled network.

Cuban Telephone Co. (ITT)🔴

Manufacturing

8 assets4 need buildout

Steel, cement, textiles, breweries — brownfield revivals.

Coca-Cola Bottling (Havana)🔴Colgate-Palmolive Factory (Havana)🔴Antillana de Acero 'José Martí' Steelworks🔴Cementos Cienfuegos ('Karl Marx')🟡Cementos Mariel ('René Arcay')🔴Textilera Ariguanabo (Bauta)🔴Papelera Pulpa Cuba (Trinidad)🔴Cervecería Bucanero (Holguín)🟡

Retail

1 assets

Confiscated department stores; GAESA-controlled chains today.

El Encanto Department Store🔴

Rum

3 assets

Bacardí's birthplace and the Havana Club trademark war.

Bacardí Original Distillery (Ronera Santiago)🔴Edificio Bacardí (Bacardi Building)🔴Arechabala Distillery / Havana Club origin🔴

Cigars

4 assets1 need buildout

Confiscated marques: Partagás, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta.

Partagás Cigar Factory (Cifuentes)🔴H. Upmann Factory / Montecristo (Menéndez-García)🔴Hoyo de Monterrey / Punch (Palicio)🔴Romeo y Julieta Cigar Factory🔴

Industrial zone

1 assets

The Mariel special development zone (GAESA land).

ZED Mariel (Special Development Zone)🔴

Airports

12 assets4 need buildout

Cuba's 12 existing airports — to modernize: terminals, passenger automation, baggage/ground robotics and air-traffic management.

José Martí International Airport (HAV)🔴Jardines del Rey Airport (CCC)🟡Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport (VRA)🔴Frank País Airport (HOG)🔴Antonio Maceo Airport (SCU)🔴Abel Santamaría Airport (SNU)🔴Ignacio Agramonte International Airport (CMW)🔴Jaime González Airport (CFG)🔴Vilo Acuña Airport (CYO)🔴Sierra Maestra Airport (MZO)🔴Hermanos Ameijeiras Airport (VTU)🔴Gustavo Rizo Airport (BCA)🔴

Fun facts

Cuba made its own COVID vaccines

Cuba developed Abdala and Soberana 02 — the first Latin American country to create and deploy a homegrown coronavirus vaccine.

A cobalt superpower

Cuba holds some of the world's largest cobalt reserves — roughly 4th globally and about 7% of the world total — plus major nickel deposits around Moa.

Common questions

Where are the opportunities in Cuba, by sector?+

Across ports, energy and the power grid, water, rail, mining (nickel and cobalt), agriculture, biotech, tourism, and the independent private sector. The atlas maps each asset with its controlling entity and the buildout gap a rebuilt Cuba would need to close.

Who controls Cuba's economy?+

Predominantly the state and the military conglomerate GAESA, which is estimated to control 40–80% of the economy. The independent private sector — MIPYMEs — is the independent slice a U.S. person may be able to support when the facts fit a scoped CACR authorization.