Crossword Genius

African country adopting esoteric rite in time (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

eritrea

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'african country' is the definition.
(country in Africa)

'adopting esoteric rite in time' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
an anagram of 'rite' is 'erit' which is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'rea' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for eritrea that I've seen before include "Province of Ethiopia on the Red Sea" , "Country in the Horn of Africa" , "East African country" , "River forming part of German-Polish border" , "North-east African state" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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