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President Obama asserted on Tuesday that he could win a third term if allowed by the Constitution, but said he was looking forward to life after the presidency, when he will be able to take a walk and spend more time with his family.

As he wrapped up what may be his final trip to Africa while in office, Mr. Obama took aim at some of the continent’s gerontocracy and called on long-entrenched leaders to step down, declaring that “nobody should be president for life.” But it led to an off-the-cuff riff about his own improved political standing and his future.

“I actually think I’m a pretty good president,” Mr. Obama said, departing from his prepared text in a speech at the African Union. “I think if I ran, I could win.”

“There’s a lot that I’d like to do to keep America moving,” he added. “But the law is the law,” he said, “and no personis above the law, not even the president.”

The comments reflect a bitter issue in Africa: the attempts by some leaders to hold onto power well beyond their terms expire. Just this month, the president of Burundi pushed through with elections that gave him a third term in office, throwing his nation into upheaval in a move widely regarded as violating the country’s constitution and a peace agreement that ended a devastating civil war.

Expanding on the topic, Mr. Obama went on to discuss the benefits of leaving the White House. “I’ll be honest with you,” he said, “I’m looking forward to life after being president. I won’t have such a big security detail all the time. It means I can go take a walk. I can spend time with my family. I can find other ways to serve. I can visit Africa more often.”

The sense of liberation Mr. Obama forecast in his post-presidential life reflected the frustration he felt on this four-day trip to Kenya and Ethiopia. While in Kenya, the land of his father, he was forced to stay in tightly controlled, better secured facilities and venues, unable to visit the village where his family came from or explore Nairobi, which he last visited in 2006. His step-grandmother told reporters that she urged him to come to the family village to pray at his father’s grave. He later told reporters that a dinner with relatives was spent “begging for forgiveness” that he could not be with them more.

In boasting that he could win another term if the 22nd Amendment did not forbid it, Mr. Obama mirrored comments President Bill Clinton has made in the past. But unlike Mr. Clinton, who often said he would have loved to have remained as president, Mr. Obama echoed his immediate predecessor, President George W. Bush, in talking wistfully of what he was looking forward to after leaving office.

Whether Mr. Obama could actually win another term may provide fodder for political debate at home. He has appeared energized by a string of successes, including congressional passage of trade authority, a Supreme Court ruling upholding his health care plan, a nuclear deal with Iran and the reopening of diplomatic relations with Cuba. But he still faces deep opposition among many Americans who criticize his economic and foreign policies.

A Pew Research Center poll found that 48 percent of Americans approve of the president’s handling of the job, matching his highest rating since the summer of 2013, though still below a majority. Clearly vexed by some of the Republicans running to succeed him, Mr. Obama used a news conference here in Ethiopia on Monday to dive into the campaign, lambasting Donald J. Trump, Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz for “outrageous” political statements.

The question of serving beyond eight years came as Mr. Obama used an address to the African Union, the first by an American president, to call on nations in Africa to expand democracy, protect freedom of speech and press, and empower girls and women.

He earned the broadest and most enthusiastic applause when he said Africa’s democratic progress was at risk when leaders refused to step aside when their terms end.

“When a leader tries to change the rules in the middle of the game just to stay in office, it risks instability and strife, as we’ve seen in Burundi,” Mr. Obama said. “And this is often just a first step down a perilous path. And sometimes you’ll hear leaders say, ‘Well, I’m the only person who can hold the nation together.’ If that’s true, then that leader has failed to truly build their nation.”
The crowd cheered even louder when he added that he did not understand why leaders do not step down, “especially when they’ve got a lot of money,” going beyond his prepared text to refer to African officials who have accumulated great fortunes while in office.

The focus on voluntarily stepping down was a direct shot at many of the aging leaders represented in the African Union. About half of the 54 countries that belong to the union have presidents, prime ministers or leaders who have been in office longer than Mr. Obama, some of them for decades.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled Equatorial Guinea since 1979. Robert Mugabe has been in power in Zimbabwe since 1980. Paul Biya has governed Cameroon since 1982. Yoweri Museveni has governed Uganda since 1986. Omar Hassan al-Bashir has governed Sudan since 1989. Paul Kagame has led Rwanda since 2000. Joseph Kabila has governed the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2001.

Mr. Obama mentioned none of them by name in his speech, but the audience seemed to have no doubt whom he meant. Speaking in Nelson Mandela Plenary Hall, named for the legendary South African freedom fighter turned president, Mr. Obama said Mr. Mandela, like George Washington, understood that voluntarily leaving office and handing over control peacefully was a powerful legacy.

“Just as the African Union has condemned coups and illegitimate transfers of power, the A.U.’s authority and strong voice can also help the people of Africa ensure that their leaders abide by term limits and their constitutions,” Mr. Obama said. “Nobody should be president for life.”

The speech capped the last day of Mr. Obama’s trip and came a day after he was criticized for not being stronger in his message of democracy to Ethiopia’s leaders, who just won 100 percent of the seats in Parliament in May elections and who have jailed many journalists and bloggers.

Mr. Obama met on Tuesday with leaders of nongovernmental organizations in Ethiopia before touring the Faffa Food plant, a company supported by Feed the Future, an American government program.

He had an awkward moment at the African Union when its chairwoman introduced him by quoting Fidel Castro, the longtime Cuban dictator who has handed over power to his brother Raúl Castro. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the chairwoman, hailed Mr. Obama’s opening to Cuba, saying that Fidel Castro predicted four decades ago that normalization would be possible only when the United States had its first black president and the world had its first Latin American pope.

“America has its first black president,” she said. “The world has its first Latin American pope.”