Democratic Republic of Congo’s former name (5)
I believe the answer is:
zaire
'democratic republic of congo's former name' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for zaire that I've seen before include "Former African country name" , "Until 1997 the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo" , "Democratic Republic of Congo's former name" , "Country, formerly" , "Old name for African republic" .)