President Barack Obama had a message for youth from other countries watching America’s rollicking presidential election: “I hope you’ve buckled your seatbelts.”

Obama is holding a town hall with participants in his Young African Leaders Initiative. The program brings young Africans to the U.S. for six-week fellowships at American universities.

Obama said the campaign is a good lesson in the fact that democracy is hard everywhere.

“It’s always challenging and it’s always messy,” Obama said.

The president also told the several hundred Africans attending the event that he wants them to know that Africa is one of the areas on which leaders in Washington agree. He said Republicans and Democrats see the importance of the U.S. building strong partnerships with African people and countries.

Obama took an array of questions from the participants, some focusing on the challenges their nations face. He told the audience it was important to be mindful of the history of their country, be it the impact of colonialism or the flood of weapons that have spurred violence, but not to use that as a crutch that could lead them to quit trying to make changes.

“You can’t use the past as an excuse for some of the problems we have today, and that’s true everywhere,” Obama said.

He challenged those in attendance to focus of the “new history we’re going to write.”

(PA)