The energy crisis faced by Cuba, worsened by the blockade of fuel shipments to the Caribbean island by the United States, is leading thousands of small and micro businesses in the country to have their existence threatened. A study by the Auge consultancy published this month shows that 96.4% of Cuban SMEs are completely dependent on fuel to survive and are likely to suffer an impact ranging from severe to catastrophic if the crisis extends too long.
The consultancy’s research listed 9,200 micro, small and medium-sized private companies that are facing daily blackouts that last up to 20 hours and a fuel shortage that generates black market prices of up to US$6 per liter.
The impacts are varied. The 7,491 (81.1% of the total) companies in sectors in which fuel is part of the production process and are classified as critical, are unable to carry out activities such as turning on machinery, cooking, refrigerating inputs or products, transport and irrigation. The study cites as concrete examples textile workshops stopped and restaurants that lose all their stock due to lack of refrigeration.
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Another 1,413 (15.3%) face a high impact, which could lead to their closure if the crisis prolongs. In these cases, the difficulties are common to those who need electricity for lighting, especially in commerce and offices. These locations are still able to operate with daylight, but are only able to sell non-perishable products.
The 332 small businesses with moderate risk (3.6% of the total) can resist without having their existence threatened, but they require some adaptation. These are services, like consultants, that can operate as long as their notebook batteries last.
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The study uses official data from the 2024 Cuban Statistical Yearbook (ONEI) and warns that, behind each number, there is an entrepreneur, a family, a life project. “These 9,236 mipymes are not just statistics: they are the efforts of thousands of Cubans who have invested in building something of their own in the last decade. They do not form a marginal sector: they represent the most dynamic productive fabric that has emerged since the opening of 2010”, comments Oniel Díaz Castellanos, author of the study.
He also says that the important thing is not just the size, but where these companies are and what they do. For example, the capital Havana concentrates 43% of the country’s private business sector. Thus, what happens in the capital — the blackouts, the low availability of fuel, the import measures — will determine the fate of almost 4,000 companies.
In December 2025, AUGE had already interviewed 175 managers of micro, small and medium-sized companies for its first Business Climate Study. On occasion, the threat of an energy crisis appears not as an abstract concern, but as a real operational vulnerability.
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A significant number of companies had already made investments to mitigate its impact. “The study revealed that 48% of companies had already made investments to deal with the energy crisis: solar panels, generators, batteries. What was then a preventive measure is now a condition for survival”, says the consultancy.
But there was also a disturbing fact: the remaining 52% were unable or did not prioritize this investment. For them, the strike is now imminent.
