Zambia has had almost 100% renewable energy for a very long time. It's only recently with more extreme weather patterns that energy consistency is becoming an issue. We've been exporting electricity for decades.

Despite that the country has remained incredibly poor and continues to circle the drain.

So I'd suggest, "they don't need X they need Y", is always going to be wrong because what is really needed is a blend of everything deployed in a very specific order depending on the country.