Important answer inspiring North African people (7)
I believe the answer is:
kenyans
'african people' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'important answer inspiring north' is the wordplay.
'important' becomes 'key' (similar in meaning).
'answer' becomes 'ans' (abbreviation for answer).
'inspiring' is an insertion indicator.
'north' becomes 'N' (abbreviation).
'key'+'ans'='keyans'
'keyans' enclosing 'n' is 'KENYANS'.
(Other definitions for kenyans that I've seen before include "African people" , "Eg, natives of Nairobi" , "Some Africans" .)