Don't forget that there was an economy before electrification was even a thing. I doubt a Kenyan coffee farmer is using a lot of electricity to grow coffee. Meanwhile a lot of electricity use in richer countries is for household electronics that are convenient but ultimately optional.

The company building the data center probably doesn't want to also build out the necessary support infrastructure if they could get the government to do it instead, and the president emphasizing that that is a big ask is a negotiation tactic to reduce how much assistance the government needs to provide.