Republican launching a club in African capital (5)
I believe the answer is:
rabat
'african capital' is the definition.
(Moroccan capital)
'republican launching a club' is the wordplay.
'republican' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'launching' says to put letters next to each other (launch can mean to begin).
'club' becomes 'bat' (bat is a kind of club).
'r'+'a'+'bat'='RABAT'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for rabat that I've seen before include "N African city" , "capital city" , "Moroccan city" , "North African capital" , "Capital of Morocco" .)