Neal Koni: CEO Profile
A seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience in large- scale development, asset management, and corporate restructuring, Neal Koni is the visionary founder and CEO of Z Holding Ventures (ZHV). Operating from Morocco, a strategic gateway to Africa, he spearheads a diversified holding company dedicated to building the foundational pillars for the continent's sustainable growth.
Under his leadership, ZHV specializes in identifying, acquiring, and strategically restructuring companies to become leaders in the critical sectors of infrastructure, energy, and water security. Mr. Koni’s unique expertise lies in orchestrating the entire development lifecycle—from conceptualization and capital financing through to construction and long-term asset management—ensuring projects deliver both transformative impact and robust financial returns.
Building Africa's Future, One Strategic Venture at a Time
Mr. Koni has architected ZHV's portfolio to address Africa's most pressing development challenges by launching and scaling several key subsidiaries:
· Koni Energy: As a leading sustainable energy partner, the company is developing a 6 GW hybrid solar and wind power station in Morocco to energize both local industries and the Euro-African corridor. Through Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and tailored technical solutions, Koni Energy provides commercial and industrial clients with reliable, cost-effective, and decarbonized power.
· Koni D’Sal: Addressing the critical need for water security, this venture deploys field-proven, compact, and mobile water treatment and desalination plants across remote and challenging environments. Its solutions provide pure drinking water from any source, powered by innovative, off-grid solar systems, serving communities and industries alike.
· GreenLink Data Centers: A visionary venture to establish Morocco as a digital bridge between Europe and Africa. GreenLink is developing large-scale, 100% renewable- powered hyperscale data centers, offering "clean compute" capacity for global cloud, AI, and enterprise workloads, and cementing the region's role in the digital economy.
Mr. Koni’s strategy is built on a foundation of securing international capital, forging partnerships with global technology leaders, and executing projects with operational excellence. His deep experience in real estate and corporate acquisitions translates into a disciplined approach to building and managing infrastructure assets that are not only sustainable but also strategically essential.
His mission is clear: to harness Morocco’s unique position to unlock Africa's vast potential by securing capital, delivering energy, providing clean water, and building the digital infrastructure for a prosperous, connected, and sustainable future.
Ed McMullen, Jr
Ed is a Senior Executive with more than 40
years of domestic and international real estate development, sales, and
marketing experience primarily for Resort destinations. His experience is best
characterized by the legacy established by his family business in creating and
executing world-class vacation ownership
destinations & platforms with Marriott
Vacation Club International and Hilton Grand Vacations.
Ed has been a leader for more than twenty
mixed use and shared ownership resorts from the ground up, dedicated to brand
excellence, strategic marketing, and counselor sales disciplines producing more
than $3 billion in Sales to tens of thousands of families.
Ed began his career in vacation ownership
front line sales for Mariner Properties in Sanibel Island, FL, charged with
product development and marketing programs to drive tour generation for
multiple sites in the Mariner portfolio in Florida. From there, he has worked for
multiple entities in the vacation ownership industry, often being assigned
opportunities to “turnaround and sell-through” trouble asset situations. Ed was charged with marketing, branding,
product development, and conversion to points-based platform in launching
properties and platform for second hospitality brand to vacation ownership
industry – Hilton Grand Vacations.
Since 2004 Ed has been the principal sales and
marketing Senior Executive for the Emerald Grande at HarborWalk Village in
Destin, FL – developing, marketing, and selling the lifestyle resort residences
and festival waterfront village. Through diligent product planning, sales
discipline, and financial rigor, over the last 15 years Ed led the team in
overcoming the 2008 financial crisis, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and numerous hurricanes in
generating more than $715 M in top-line real estate sales.
Ed is recognized for his expertise in real
estate sales & marketing, troubled asset turnarounds, and financial
engineering. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business & Marketing from
Florida Southern College. Ed currently resides in Destin, Florida.
Preferred Equity Sponsorship Team
Paul H. van Leeuwen
Paul is a Senior Executive with extensive
domestic and international operational and development experience in Resort
Destinations, Theme Parks, Hotels (Luxury, Upper Upscale, Upscale, Midscale and
independently-branded properties), Vacation Ownership, Food & Beverage,
Retail Dining & Entertainment (RDE),
Water Parks, and Upscale Residential Club
Communities. He spent the
first twenty years
of his career with
the Walt Disney Company
throughout the world
and has served in executive roles
in several hospitality companies.
Paul started his career at Walt Disney World
as an Industrial Engineer, providing internal consulting support to all the
Resort’s divisions. He was on the opening crew for Disneyland Paris,
responsible for establishing a pan European Business Planning team focused on
guest research, attendance forecasting, and consulting support. He concluded
his Disney career with five years at Disneyland in Southern California where he
led the team responsible for securing approval for the Disneyland Resort
expansion which included Disney’s California Adventure, The Grand Californian
Hotel, and Downtown Disney.
Paul’s other experience has included serving
as Chief Operating Officer for the Reynolds Capital Group – a $175 M private
equity fund focused on investing in land, community development and master
development opportunities; and Executive Vice President for the Reynolds Hotel
Group – a hospitality development and asset management company. Paul has served
as President of Professional Hospitality Resources, a Virginia-based
hospitality company where he was responsible for leading 1,500 Associates for
three hotels, five vacation ownership resorts, and a portfolio of restaurant
properties; and served as a governor-appointed Board Member and Vice Chair for
the Virginia Tourism Corporation.
Recognized for his expertise in strategy and
growth, executive leadership and development, and operational excellence, Paul
most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer for HarborWalk Hospitality,
and currently provides advisory services and investment sponsorship to the
leisure, hospitality, and community development industries. He holds a
Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering, magna cum laude, from Georgia Tech
and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. Paul currently resides in Destin,
Florida.
Patrick Martin | Chief Technology Officer
As the Chief Technology Officer of Z Holding Ventures, Patrick Martin is the visionary engineering mind steering our global portfolio of sustainable energy and water infrastructure projects. With a career spanning over three decades, Patrick brings an unparalleled depth of experience in delivering some of the world's largest and most complex power and desalination plants.
A founding architect of our strategic direction, Patrick was the master planner behind the groundbreaking Nzlink project in Morocco and the founder of our subsidiaries, Koni Energy and Koni Desal. His expertise has been instrumental in ZHV's expansion across the Middle East, Africa, and beyond. For the past decade, his leadership has ensured that our projects are not only technologically advanced but also economically viable and environmentally responsible.
Patrick's legacy is built upon a foundation of monumental achievements. Prior to establishing Koni Energy six years ago, he was the Construction Manager for the Ras Al Khair facility in Saudi Arabia—the largest combined power generation and water desalination plant in the world. This project stands as a testament to his ability to manage immense technical challenges and multi-billion-dollar EPC contracts, delivering critical infrastructure on a gigawatt-scale.
His distinguished career includes senior leadership roles with industry giants such as Mott MacDonald, Pöryy, Siemens Energy, and Alstom, managing multi-disciplinary teams across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and diplomas in Project Management and Industrial Engineering.
Patrick’s unique blend of hands-on site management, strategic project planning, and deep technical acumen in both conventional and renewable energy systems makes him an indispensable leader in our mission to power and sustain emerging economies. His work continues to bridge the gap between ambitious vision and tangible, world-class execution.
Patrick is committed to leveraging cutting-edge technology to solve the world's most pressing energy and water challenges, driving Z Holding Ventures toward a more sustainable and secure future.