Obama's day: Off to Africa

President Obama spends Thursday in meetings ahead of a night-time departure for a trip to Africa.

The president plans to stress economic development during his travels to Kenya and Ethiopia.

The African continent "has the potential to be the next center of global economic growth," Obama told a White House reception on Wednesday.

The president is scheduled to return to the White House in the early morning hours Wednesday.

Also said Obama: "Despite its many challenges-- and we have to be clear-eyed about all the challenges that the continent still faces -- Africa is a place of incredible dynamism, some of the fastest-growing markets in the world, extraordinary people, extraordinary resilience."