8 Companies Benefit from Cuba & Nicaragua Changes
Dozens of companies are set to have major windfall events when the governments of Cuba and Nicaragua change - these are the top 8
In the Port of Havana, the Karadeniz Powership “Belgin Sultan” has returned. Satellite views show the billowing smoke from another power generator docked nearby.
These floating electricity generators are a part of a fleet of oil-fired thermal power plants - both floating and land based - that account for over 80% of Cuba’s power generation.
The land based Soviet-era facilities suffer from frequent breakdowns and rely on a constant stream of (until very recently) Venezuelan oil.
The floating power stations are mostly supplied by a private Turkish company who’s mission is “to reduce energy poverty.” Something that Cuba is very familiar with.
Source: Karpowership
I last saw one of Karpowership’s projects in Guyana, as the company won a major contract to convert LNG into electricity for the fastest growing economy in the world.
Over in Cuba, who’s economy is barely alive, electricity has become a crisis since the fall of Maduro.
Desperate for oil, the US recently allowed a sanctioned Russian oil tanker to make a delivery in Cuba’s Matanzas bay for ‘humanitarian reasons.’
For obvious reasons, the US didn’t want to admit that the tanker was accompanied by a Russian nuclear submarine.
Changes A Coming
As I explained last week, the companies operating in Cuba and the opportunities available are all likely to change soon.
The Donroe Doctrine - Like Germany, China Will Motivate the US to Intervene in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Beyond
As the plane creaked and moaned through the clouds, I spotted a cockroach scurrying across the back of the pilot’s seat. It was, and still is, the most terrifying flight I’ve ever been on.
Similar developments will also occur in Nicaragua.
Historically, both of these countries have been very difficult to invest in for most Westerners.
Not only are most enterprises state operated and controlled (which is why they are fraught with corruption and mismanagement), the few publicly traded companies are often sanctioned and inaccessible for investors.
But that doesn’t mean that these countries don’t have enormous amounts of untapped wealth.
In fact, Cuba and Nicaragua are arguably some of the most resource rich countries of the entire region.
That’s why the world’s major three powers - Russia, China, and the US - are in a struggle to control these two countries.
If the US gets its way, the windfalls for early investors could be massive.
Cuba & Nicaragua - Riches in the Rocks
I detailed the long history that the US has had with Cuba and Nicaragua… Much of which has been a series of regime changes, subliminal influence, and actual military conflicts.
Beyond these historical events, it’s important to understand why Cuba and Nicaragua continue to be interests of major world powers.
Cuba
With a literacy rate over 99%, Cuba has a workforce primed for production. The problem is that the country has no real industry or manufacturing base for investors to easily step into.
The one exception may be in the biotech industry via BioCubaFarma. This state run company is surprisingly successful with thousands of patents issues worldwide and a wide variety of vaccines and treatments developed.
Source: BioCubaFarma
The company does accept private investment and even has an “Investment Catalog” that present different opportunities. One project shows a projected 72% IRR:
But for most Westerners participation isn’t possible due to sanctions. Still, it’s an industry to keep an eye on if Cuba opens back up to the world for investment.
What’s more interesting about Cuba, from an investment perspective, is its natural resources and tourism.
Cuba’s resources go far beyond sugar and tobacco.
Just below the ground, the country has the world’s 3rd largest reserves of cobalt and the 5th largest reserves of nickel. Both of these metals are extremely important for the manufacturing of batteries.
That’s especially true because there are publicly traded companies you can invest in right now, even if you’re in the US.
(More on that in a moment.)
Nicaragua
Although Nicaragua is the largest country in Central America (by land mass), it ranks as the lowest in terms of GDP per capita.
Side story: I was once robbed in the streets of Managua by the actual police.
Despite the poor economic situation in the country, the land is extremely rich with natural resources.
Known as the "breadbasket of Central America," it possesses the region's most fertile soil and largest freshwater reserves. But agriculture is not where the country shines the most.
Nicaragua is the largest producer and exporter of gold in Central America, with much of the country still unexplored.
Of existing operations, one is the highest-grade open-pit gold mine in the world.
Investing in Communist Transformations
I’ve already done an exhausting amount of explanations and research over the past two weeks within these two publications:
So let’s just cut to the chase and review eight publicly traded companies that could see upside from transformations within Cuba and Nicaragua…
