President Obama Meets Pope Benedict at the Vatican

President Obama, left,shakes hands with South African President Jacob Zuma during a bilateral...

President Obama, left,shakes hands with South African President Jacob Zuma during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G-8 ummit in L'Aquila, Italy, July 10, 2009. In a meeting this morning with the leaders of Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Nigeria, Libya and Ethiopia, Obama spoke about his personal connections to both Africa and poverty, and according to a top White House aide, "You could have heard a pin drop."

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Obama Finishes Trip in Ghana, First Trip to Sub-Saharan Africa as President

Ghana is the final stop on Obama's six-day trip. There, he will meet with newly elected President John Atta Mills and deliver a speech to members of parliament.

The president and first lady will visit a hospital in Accra that focuses on maternal and child health care and, weather permitting, are scheduled to take a helicopter to tour the Cape Coast Castle, an old slave fort where hundreds of thousands of Africans were held before being put on slave ships.

White House officials said the Ghana stop is meant to show that Africa is not a "separate sphere" but a key part of the administration's overall foreign policy. The White House chose Ghana over other African nations, including Kenya, where Obama's father was from, to showcase a successful African democracy. Ghana has held peaceful democratic elections, including Mills' election earlier this year.

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"It's an admirable example of strong, democratic governance, vibrant civil society," said senior White House director for African affairs Michelle Gavin. "They've made tremendous development progress over the past decade, as well. There's much to admire and to sort of hold up something of a counter to what one often hears about Africa, sort of a litany of crises and conflict. It's certainly not the case in Ghana."

Ghanaians are eagerly awaiting Obama's visit, but there is some grumbling that the trip is too short and the president is not holding a large public event in Accra, as former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did on trips to Ghana.

"I do not believe that there is a way in which we could ever fulfill or assuage the desires of those in Ghana or on the continent on one stop with a public stop," said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

There will be a departure ceremony at the airport in Accra for thousands of invited guests, but it is not open to the public.

ABC News' Jon Garcia and Phoebe Natanson contributed to this report.