Container held by African is terrific (8)
I believe the answer is:
canister
'container' is the definition.
(canister is a kind of container)
'held by african is terrific' is the wordplay.
'held by' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue.
'CANISTER' is hidden in the letters of 'african is terrific'.
(Other definitions for canister that I've seen before include "Metal container, for tea say" , "Storage container, for tea say" , "Container for storing dry food" , "Metal case" , "Vessel" .)