President Obama on Tuesday said he believes he could win a third term as president of the United States, but said presidents should be willing to give up power willingly, and encouraged African leaders to think the same way.

"I'll be honest with you, I'm looking forward to life after being president," Obama said in remarks to the African Union in Ethiopia on Tuesday. Obama ticked off all things he would be able to do outside the constrains of public office, like going for walks, spending more time with his family and visiting Africa more frequently.

"I don't understand why people want to stay so long, especially when they got a lot of money," he said to big cheers, referencing previous African leaders who have gotten rich while in office, which he didn't name.

Calling himself a fairly young man, a smiling Obama said, "I actually think I'm a pretty good president; I think if I ran, I could win. I can't ... The law is the law. And no one person is above the law, not even the president."

"Nobody should be president for life," Obama told the 54-nation body. "When a leader tries to change the rules in the middle of the game" to remain in office, "it creates instability," he said. Obama singled out Burundi, where President Pierre Nkurunziza, who became the first democratically elected leader after civil war ended there in 2005, just won a third term despite constitutional limits.

Such moves often are "just the first step down a perilous path," Obama warned.