Appeal to leaders of African tribal region (7)
I believe the answer is:
attract
'appeal to' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'leaders of african tribal region' is the wordplay.
'leaders of' indicates taking the first letters.
'region' becomes 'tract' (both can mean a large piece of land).
The first letters of 'african tribal' is 'at'.
'at'+'tract'='ATTRACT'
(Other definitions for attract that I've seen before include "Draw, pull" , "Arouse interest of" , "'Draw, charm (7)'" , "Allure" , "Appeal to, draw towards" .)