Obama Says He Could Win Third Term In Office

US President Barack Obama has joked he could win a third term in office, as he rebuked African leaders who refuse to step down.

Becoming the first sitting US president to address the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he said that even if he was not constitutionally barred from standing for re-election he would not want to do so.

"I love my job," he told the assembled heads of state on Tuesday as he capped off a four-day trip to Kenya and Ethiopia .

"But under our constitution, I cannot run again.

"I actually think I'm a pretty good president - I think if I ran, I could win - but I can't!"

Mr Obama said he's looking forward to leaving the White House security bubble so he can have the freedom to do things like travel to Africa.

He said he knows the US will benefit from the insights of a new president.

"The point is, I don't understand why people want to stay so long," Mr Obama said with a grin.

"Especially when they've got a lot of money."

He compared former South African President Nelson Mandela to George Washington, America's first President.

Mr Obama noted that both willingly left office and transferred power to their successors.

He singled out Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza, who recently secured a third term amid unrest, though he is constitutionally limited to two.

"When a leader tries to change the rules in the middle of the game just to stay in office," Mr Obama said, "it risks instability and strife, as we've seen in Burundi."

He was applauded as he called for an end to corruption, female genital mutilation and child marriage on the continent.

Mr Obama, whose father was born and died in Kenya, began his speech by saying: "I also stand before you as the son of an African.

"Africa and its people helped to shape America, and allowed it to become the great nation that it is.

Introducing Mr Obama for his address, the chair of the African Union Commission Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma told the US President: "Although we welcome you as the president of the United States of America, we also claim you as our own."

"Today, there is no America without Africa," she added, citing black contributions to history, literature, music, sciences, arts and sports.