Sure, but building a data center in a metropolis can be a lot more expensive than building it in a rural area because of other factors like higher land values,

Sure, but building a data center in a metropolis can be a lot more expensive than building it in a rural area because of other factors like higher land values, taxes, energy costs, etc. The ocean freight for Shenzhen to Lagos probably costs 2-3x more than Shenzhen to Los Angeles, but ocean freight alone is still a tiny fraction of the total landed cost of the data center.