Nigerian author, poet and playwright Rotimi Babatunde is the latest winner of the Caine Prize, the literary honour described as the Booker Prize for African writers.

Babatunde, who is based in Ibadan, Nigeria, received the £10,000 (about $15,984 Cdn) prize at a dinner Monday night at the Bodleian library in Oxford, England.

Nigerian author, poet and playwright Rotimi Babatunde has won the 13th Caine Prize, receiving the prestigious award at Oxford's Bodleian Library on Monday. (Caine Prize for African Writing)

He was recognized for his short story Bombay's Republic, which tells the story of Nigerian soldiers who fought in Burma during the Second World War. The short-fiction work was published in the online literary journal Mirabilia Review.

"It is ambitious, darkly humorous and, in soaring, scorching prose, exposes the exploitative nature of the colonial project and the psychology of Independence," author, literary critic and Caine Prize judging chair Bernardine Evaristo said in a statement.

Evaristo was joined on the judging panel by London-based cultural journalist Maya Jaggi, Zimbabwean writer Chirikure Chirikure, Georgetown University English professor Samantha Pinto and Sudanese TV correspondent Nima Elbagir.

Also shortlisted for the prestigious award were:

• Kenyan writer Billy Kahora for Urban Zoning, published in literary journal McSweeney's.
• Malawian writer Stanley Kenani for Love on Trial, from his collection For Honour and Other Stories.
• Zimbabwean writer Melissa Tandiwe Myambo for La Salle de Départ, published in online literary journal Prick of the Spindle.
• South African writer Constance Myburgh for Hunter Emmanuel, published in the African fiction magazine Jungle Jim.

In addition to the cash prize, Babatunde is being invited to serve a month-long term as writer-in-residence at Georgetown University's Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice and to appear at the upcoming Open Book Festival in Cape Town and the Museum of African Art in New York.

Established to honour the memory of former Booker chair Michael Caine, longtime chair of the Booker Prize management committee and a champion of African writing, the Caine Prize has celebrated English-language short fiction by African writers since its launch in 2000.