The Cape Town Book Fair is a unique platform for the African and international book industry to establish and grow relationships amongst and with the African publishing community.

At the same time, it was a huge cultural event for the public that had more than 350 events taking place in 2007, covering the entire range from readings, book launches, discussions and seminars. Visitors not only discovered the newest releases but were also able to purchase them at the fair.

The Cape Town Book Fair is a strategic partnership between the Publishers' Association of South Africa and the Frankfurter Buchmesse, allowing for the exchange of ideas and expertise to establish a foundation for this annual event.

The fair's primary objective is to provide an intellectual forum for all sectors of the book industry within South Africa and those interested in Africa to showcase their materials and discuss amongst peers the challenges of the industry in a globally benchmarked environment.

The Cape Town Book Fair is committed to the establishment of a viable commercial rights market place, a vibrant meeting place and sees itself as a catalyst for the support to the development of publishing in South Africa and the rest of the continent.

In support of these objectives, it will endorse, collaborate and organize a series of workshops and forums to achieve one of its key objectives viz introducing Africa as a place of literary origination.

Participants and collaborators to these events will include South African and African government officials and policy makers, authors from around the world, as well as new and established South African authors.