Cuba is opening a new door to capital as it looks to stabilize an economy under strain, with the government set to allow nationals living abroad to invest in and own businesses on the island.

“Cuba is open to having a fluid commercial relationship with U.S. companies and also with Cubans residing in the United States and their descendants,” Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga told NBC News.

The change reflects a need to find new sources of capital amid economic challenges and infrastructure breakdowns.

The policy marks a notable shift for a system that has historically restricted private ownership and foreign-linked participation. Cuban nationals abroad, including those in Miami, will be allowed to invest in the country’s private sector and take ownership stakes in businesses.

“This extends beyond the commercial sphere,” Fraga told NBC News. “It also applies to investments, not only small investments, but also large investments, particularly in infrastructure.”

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Fraga framed the changes as part of a larger attempt to reshape the economy’s operating model. The reforms aim to create what he called a “dynamic business environment,” one that can attract both domestic and external investment while expanding the role of private enterprise.

The effort is part of a broader push to revive key industries, including tourism, mining and energy, and update aging infrastructure, according to NBC News. The approach appears designed to attract outside capital to support modernization and economic growth.

The shift reflects mounting pressure to generate new sources of revenue as traditional state-led models struggle to deliver stability. In practice, this could mean allowing small private firms and joint ventures to operate more freely.

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The timing is not accidental. Cuba is facing a deepening energy crisis that has exposed structural weaknesses across the economy. The country’s electrical grid failed on Monday, triggering a nationwide blackout. Authorities said emergency measures, including microgrids, were used to keep essential services, such as hospitals, running.

The U.S. Embassy in Havana on Monday warned that “Cuba’s national electrical grid is increasingly unstable,” underscoring the scale of the problem.

The outages follow months without petroleum shipments, leaving the island with limited fuel to sustain power generation and industrial activity, according to media reports. The instability is likely to raise the stakes for attracting external capital, particularly in energy infrastructure, where modernization requires funding the state cannot provide on its own.

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Cuban officials continue to point to U.S. policy as a central obstacle to economic recovery. “The United States blockade, the policy of hostility against Cuba, is undoubtedly an element that affects the development of these transformations,” Fraga told NBC News.

“The blockade deprives us of access to financing, access to technology, access to markets,” he added, noting that recent measures have also restricted access to fuel.  The longstanding U.S. embargo, eased in part under the Obama administration, still limits most trade and investment, though certain licenses allow participation in Cuba’s private sector.

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This article Cuba To Allow Nationals Abroad To Own Businesses — A Turning Point For Havana’s Economy? originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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