VIP absorbing atmosphere at first in African capital (7)
I believe the answer is:
nairobi
'african capital' is the definition.
(capital of Kenya)
'vip absorbing atmosphere at first in' is the wordplay.
'vip' becomes 'nob' (I've seen this in other clues).
'absorbing' indicates putting letters inside.
'atmosphere' becomes 'air' (synonyms).
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'first in' becomes 'i' (nst letter of 'in').
'nob' placed around 'air' is 'nairob'.
'nairob'+'i'='NAIROBI'
(Other definitions for nairobi that I've seen before include "I, a robin (anag) - city" , "East African capital" , "Foreign capital" , "Kenyan city" , "African city" .)