Former President Barack Obama asserted that many of the world's problems can be attributed to old men refusing to relinquish their power and said women are "pretty indisputably" better than men.

"Now women, I just want you to know, you are not perfect, but what I can say pretty indisputably is that you're better than us," Mr. Obama said during a speech before business leaders in Singapore on Monday, according to BBC News.

The former president, who left office in January 2017, added that if women ran every nation in the world, there would be "significant improvements across the board on just about everything."

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"If you look at the world and look at the problems, it's usually old people, usually old men, not getting out of the way," Mr. Obama said.

The former president said political leaders should remember that they are "there to do a job" and not to "prop up your own sense of self-importance or your own power."

Mr. Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama were in Malaysia last week for a convening of the inaugural Obama Foundation Leaders: Asia-Pacific program.