Bringing coherence to a fragmented world

• Interview with Jennifer Baarn: How a courageous connector builds multi-million-dollar partnerships with integrity, intuition and impact

On her desk, she keeps a note that says: Do something scary every day. That mindset has carried her from a career in European finance to shaping economic development across the African continent. It has helped her win over ministers, presidents, and CEOs to join billion-dollar development initiatives. And it serves as a reminder to use her intuition as a compass in the demanding environments she operates in.

Today, as Head of Private Sector Partnerships at AGRA, Jennifer helps grow Africa’s food systems sustainably - spotting opportunities, connecting actors, and turning goodwill into real investment. Her gift lies in bridging worlds that rarely meet: global boardrooms, government halls, and the farmlands where food security begins.

From blueprint to billion-dollar impact

When Jennifer arrived in Tanzania in 2011 to help establish the multi-stakeholder initiative, the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT), she faced a formidable challenge. There was a solid paper blueprint for the initiative and high-level commitment from government and donors. There was an ambitious expectation for billion-dollar delivery as well. Everything else, for in-country delivery, had to be initiated from scratch. Her arrival as Deputy CEO of the SAGCOT Centre proved a turning point.

“Within three years, we had secured one billion US dollars in investment commitments, both public and private.”

The goal was to create something Tanzanian-owned and delivered. Jennifer smiles: “That was easier said than done, but we made it happen.” The results were tangible: a rise in investments, higher yields for farmers, greater inclusion, and measurable income growth across the industry. The model won international awards and even became a business-school case study. “When it came together - creating something that had both economic and human impact - that was incredibly rewarding.”

Building bridges across divides

How did she make the unthinkable happen? Through a unique vision and a talent for connecting actors from completely different worlds. The country’s president himself assigned some of his best people to the initiative. “We also had committed captains of industry who genuinely wanted to make this work, alongside senior civil servants who lent the project credibility and drove delivery.”

Jennifer highlights a crucial insight: “It’s not enough to talk to the most powerful decision makers, i.e. the President or a minister. You must engage everybody in the decision-making hierarchy to regional coordinators and field officers and help them see the benefits. The same goes for companies: it’s not enough for the VP of Africa to fly in for meetings; you need local lawyers, field managers, and real operators. Most importantly, the economic benefits should be felt by local entrepreneurs.” Jennifer reflects with sincerity: “In the end I cannot say that I made it happen; it was a true partnership delivery.”

Her Dutch training proved useful in bringing the SAGCOT partnership to life. She drew on the so-called Dutch Diamond: the eco-system cooperation between government, research, civil society, and private sector that underpins agricultural success. “Everyone in Tanzania had a role to play, but it was not always aligned to accelerate scale or to create a predictable investment climate. By creating synergy, we amplified impact and pushed partners to think long-term instead of running isolated short-term programmes and investments.” Today, delivering eco-system partnerships to scale and accelerate impact is a pinnacle of Jennifer’s approach.

“Whether it is Tanzania, Japan or Ethiopia, success is often driven by managing effective partnerships.”

A personal calling

A personal quest brought Jennifer to the African continent. “My parents were cultural figures in Suriname. Both teachers who became ambassadors of our heritage. My mother is even listed in the Dutch Lexicon among the thousand most remarkable women in Dutch history. Questions of identity and origin were always in the air.”

Working in London for Rabobank from 2004 to 2008, she began to explore her roots: studying African Studies at night while handling Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) deals by day. “There are three centuries between me and this continent, but something in me wanted to understand the link and make Africa part of my reality. When I finally started travelling through Africa, I saw not just heritage but progress: dynamism, innovation, youth, entrepreneurship. I thought: “I want to be part of this.”

A senior manager at Rabobank was supportive: If you really want to make a difference on the continent, they told her, you’ll have to do it outside the bank. “They were right.”

“Africa has shaped me in more ways than one.”

Jennifer continues: “I’ve had opportunities here that I might never have had elsewhere. I’ve advised ministers, collaborated with presidents, led major projects and had the privilege to work with some of the best experts to drive change. It’s been an extraordinary space for growth. But I’m clear on one thing: the ‘We must save Africa’ narrative has no space in shaping this continent’s future. The drive, resilience and entrepreneurial spirit on the continent is unprecedented. I’m here to build partnerships. To learn as much as I give.” 

Driving triple-bottom-line impact

When asked what drives her, Jennifer explains that bridging stakeholders with diverging perspectives and interests is what makes her truly happy. “Businesses speak one language, institutional investors another, local entrepreneurs a third - and then there are governments at multiple levels. But where do we place the interests of the farmers?”

“For me, the real milestone is aligning all parties and securing genuine inclusive investment commitment.”

Her M&A background proved invaluable. “Replicating how corporate transactions are done in a development setting is not only extremely difficult; it sometimes requires different pathways. But when it works, and you can deliver that triple-bottom-line impact, that’s what makes me deeply satisfied.”

Transforming systems at scale

At AGRA, Jennifer now operates at a continental scale, bringing together companies, investors, and governments to mobilise inclusive growth in Africa’s food system. She explains: “It is important for non-profit development institutions such as AGRA to reposition themselves. From a grant-making organisation to a credible investment partner. For companies with the determination to implement inclusive business models that benefit local entrepreneurs and farmers." Such thinking led Jennifer to launch the Agribusiness Deal Room, where governments and companies meet investors each year.

“We partner with international firms and large off-takers on projects in countries such as Ghana or Nigeria – Jennifer continues. Together, we look at the whole food chain and determine how AGRA can strengthen it, ultimately giving smallholders and SMEs better market access and higher incomes.”

Confronting the system’s limits

Her partnership work isn’t always easy. Jennifer faces conflicting agendas, lack of resources, vested interests, and sometimes sheer inertia. “Agriculture value chains are very fragmented and sensitive. Many levers need to move coherently, especially if you want to have equity for the smallest players in the chain. You proceed ten steps and take twenty backwards. It can be draining. And there’s always another fire to extinguish.”

The biggest obstacles, she says, are structural. “In the development space, there’s limited real incentive to collaborate. In business, the drive for cost reduction and innovation pushes people to create synergies - to share information and seek economies of scale. In development, it is not uncommon for every donor to have their own budget, their own metrics. Striving for the same objective but through different projects, thus limiting flexibility.”

“If a brilliant opportunity comes up that doesn’t fit with specific predetermined budget lines, it simply won’t happen.”

Jennifer continues by highlighting another challenge: “Real, tangible deals are difficult to close and require a long trajectory of facilitation. Meanwhile, we divert to meetings and research projects that keep the momentum going. But those are rarely the interventions that really move the needle. I’ve took part in so many of those, thinking:

We could have built something by now, if we just focused on partnership creation and supporting all actors to collaborate effectively.”

And then there’s the resource problem, she adds. “By the time resources reach the people who can realise change, a lot of it has evaporated in bureaucracy or compliance. Partnership is supposed to create efficiency, but often the system punishes it.”

Balancing acceptance and action

The contradictions come with tough decisions, almost daily. “Resources are never sufficient to match requirements, making me feel like I’m always delivering half-measures. I’ve realised that feeling originates partly from my perfectionism and partly from my European frame of reference, which was hard to let go of initially.”

There’s also a delicate balance between collaboration and independence. “I believe deeply in partnership, but sometimes you must go your own way to prove something can be done. For example, with the Agribusiness Deal Room, I tried to collaborate widely at first, but eventually I said: This is our idea - let’s just do it.”

“Waiting for consensus kills momentum. You can’t always operate by committee.”

Leading fairly but with compassion

When Jennifer first landed in Tanzania, she was extremely results-driven. Looking back, she recognises it as an unhealthy style adopted from investment banking. “I thought that replacing underperforming employees would solve all delivery problems. However, my chairman mentored me well and with patience. Over time, I learned that scouting the right skillsets is critical, but also that you have a significant responsibility in building and empowering people. Now I know that effectiveness and empathy aren’t opposites.”

What has stayed non-negotiable for Jennifer is integrity. “I don’t do corruption, period. I also do not assign work to someone just because I know them. If you are granted the opportunity to create impact for a whole community, performance and delivery should be sacred.”

Equality is another theme close to her heart. “If I ever build an organisation from scratch again, I will place even more emphasis on transparency and equity. I come from a small country where wealth is uneven, but prosperity still feels accessible. Now I work in environments where opportunities are still difficult to obtain for the most vulnerable. That’s something I find difficult to accept.”

Sustaining drive without burning out

Decades of leadership experience in Africa have brought Jennifer a deep insight:

“The forces working against you always outweigh your energy levels.”

She continues: “Therefore, you must be careful not to break down. I keep going because of two things. First, my drive to make things work better. I can’t stand inefficiency that blocks opportunities for so many people, so I keep trying to make things work better for everyone. And second, the excitement of delivery. When I close a deal, when something we envisioned becomes reality, that gives me an adrenaline boost.”

That combination of strategy and execution keeps her going. But she is aware of the cost. “Every success feeds the next challenge, raises the bar and you risk never pausing.” I have heard from previous managers that it was not always easy to replace me. “It says something about the intensity of that space. I’ve realised I thrive in the pioneering phase when things are new, messy, unstructured. Once a project becomes mainstream, I need to hand it over.”

She has learned to seek support as well. “I make sure I have peer mentors: people at a similar level whom I can discuss about goals, performance, and next steps. That’s something I learnt during my work at the World Economic Forum from 2008 to 2011. Those conversations have saved me more than once.”

Recharging and returning to centre

Physically, Jennifer recharges in Suriname. “Every December I go home, see family and friends, dance, reconnect with my roots. I also go to Zanzibar once a year, just to sit on a white beach, look at the stars, and breathe.”

Recently, she became a mother of twins. “When I’m with them, I can finally switch off. I’ve always lived in my head; they pull me back into the moment.”

Turning down the noise to hear the inner voice

As our conversation draws to a close, Jennifer shares another crucial element of her leadership. “In Surinamese culture, intuition - what we call skinfiri - is almost an extra sense. It can be a feeling, a dream, a hunch. Something telling you not to go out today, or to pay attention to something unseen. It’s part of how I was raised.”

“In my professional life, I’ve learnt to treat intuition as a compass. When things were toughest in Tanzania, when we faced accusations and failures, I still had a strong sense that I was exactly where I was meant to be. To tap into her intuition, she takes moments of quiet to tune in. “I run through all my senses: what did I see, hear, feel? What is this moment telling me?”

“Sometimes you need to turn down the noise to hear your inner voice.”

Her partner, who runs restaurants, has taught her another lesson: don’t dwell on mistakes. “In business, if you overanalyse, you’ll paralyse. I’m a perfectionist; I can replay things endlessly, but I’m learning to move on. I often tell my team: ‘You’ll always make mistakes, but the key is to make the best possible decision with the information you have at that moment.’ Doing that, you can live with the outcome.”

Cultivating clarity and integrity

What worries Jennifer is what she calls the Infowars: the way our perception of reality is being manipulated through social media and misinformation. “When intuition is fed with the wrong information, it can lead to terrible decisions. In emerging markets that might make a difference between having a job or not, a child being healthy or not, that is very challenging.”

Her advice to future leaders is clear: “Cultivate clarity of mind and purity of instinct. Think critically, feel deeply, and act with integrity. Because ultimately, everything comes back to two forces: people, and the information they hold to make decisions. If you can bring coherence to both, you can change the world.”