In recent years in Cuba there has been an upsurge of small businesses by individual initiative or germinated from within the family. The Covid-19 pandemic was a catalyst for this phenomenon that redirected the dynamics of communication to virtual spaces and reconfigured access to goods and services. Today you can see many businesses with a presence on the Internet. However, the uses they make are rather circumscribed to Web 2.0 platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp.
It is no secret that being an "emprendedor" in Cuba is a novelty. They are still called that way because barriers persist in the collective subconscious after so many years of prohibitions from the private sector. That's why you almost never hear here that someone is an "entrepreneur", apparently there is a connotation in that word that does not fit with the canons of a Cuban who wants to get ahead.
However, given the constant difficulties that the country is experiencing, the State somehow has recognized its inefficiency in providing all the products and services that are needed. That is why there has been the intention to diversify the productive links and mix them, from legitimacy, to the economic life of the country. One might think that with this measure everything is ready for success, right?
But success is still far from reality, because in practice, external factors hit the entrepreneurs, such as the shortage and non-existence of national industries that can constantly supply the inputs or goods needed by the emerging economic actors (both micro, small and medium enterprises -Mipyme by the spanish name-, or the self-employed).
That is the reason why most of the emerging businesses are limited to the resale of products purchased in the stores that collect foreign currency with the freely convertible currency (MLC) or directly in foreign markets. Very few enterprises are engaged in the creation or production of goods, and if they do, they depend to a large extent on the importation of raw materials, which slows down production flows.
At the same time, the inflation of the national currency and its lack of usefulness at the international level, generates that businessmen must buy other currencies such as the Euro, dollars or even the pound sterling in order to trade with suppliers from other countries. With so much juggling, it is logical that many of the businesses do not flourish and fall by the wayside just starting out.
On the other hand, despite the fact that in recent years there has been a resurgence of businesses in the private sector, the data handled by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) goes up to the year 2021 and reflects 1 million, 500 thousand workers in the non-state sector, of which 596 thousand are self-employed. If we take into account that there are approximately 11 million inhabitants in Cuba, the number of entrepreneurs is around 16% of the total population.
Other more updated data are those of the Ministry of Economy and Planning, which show that as of May 17, 2023, 8178 new economic actors had been approved in Cuba, a figure that is illustrative of the accelerated growth if we take into account that the first 35 MSMEs were approved in the country in September 2021.
These new businesses are varied, but gastronomic services, commercialization of beverages, food and tobacco, construction, tourism activities, product manufacturing, bookkeeping, motor vehicle repair, textile manufacturing... predominate. In short, the spectrum may seem broad, but there are still many lines of business that need to emerge and be incorporated into the economic life of society.
From the individual point of view, beyond the motivations to carry out a business, which may vary depending on the context and the subjectivity of each person, those who dare to start a business believe that this path is a way to achieve financial independence and personal fulfillment. This idea is reinforced in countries such as Cuba, where inflation levels have reached such a point that the average salary is not enough to buy basic products; hence, entrepreneurship is "the salvation plank" for some, and for others it is the moonlighting that allows them to make ends meet.
In any case, Cubans have in their genes the perseverance and optimism to get ahead in any adverse situation. But in my opinion, the constant state of tension and survival in which we live does not give room for analysis or planning of personal or family economy. In that sense, it would be good to publicize Web 3.0 and specifically platforms like Hive, because approaching this ecosystem begins a path of constant education in which every day you will understand a little more about how to be more solvent and effective in your finances.
This is just my opinion, but blockchain technology is a real revolution that is coming to redefine the world as we know it. Decentralization is a concept that is mentioned a lot and sometimes people do not understand that this means being the owner of all their activity and assets on the Internet. And today the popular saying that if you are not on the network of networks, you don't exist, is fully true; that's why I think that digital literacy is necessary immediately to adopt this innovative technology early.
Because to conclude, let's think about the benefits that a company born in Cuba that carries out its activities in a blockchain can have. First of all: it would have the confidence of its customers because all accounting would be public. Second: it would not run the risk of having its profiles removed or its contents censored in any way by any regulatory entity. And third: You would be able to trade freely and without economic blockades when using cryptocurrencies.
I think the advantages would be many more, but at the end of the day I am not a professional in Economics and what I have poured here are just opinions based on life experience and what I have read. Let me know in the comments your opinion on the matter and if you believe, as I do, that blockchain and Web 3.0 could help Cuban businesses to move forward.
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Text by the author, 
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Cover image edited on Canva free version.
Post writen in spanish
and translated with Deepl to English.
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