African country raising river spirit (7)
I believe the answer is:
nigeria
'african country' is the definition.
(country in Africa)
'raising river spirit' is the wordplay.
'raising' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'river' becomes 'aire' (River Aire in Yorkshire).
'spirit' becomes 'gin' (alcoholic spirit).
'aire'+'gin'='airegin'
'airegin' reversed gives 'NIGERIA'.
(Other definitions for nigeria that I've seen before include "W. African country" , "West African state" , "In rage I turn to this country" , "part of Africa" , "African country, capital Abuja" .)