Esaf Cooperative

Purasaiwakkam, Chennai

Even though formally ESMACO has a history of around 10 years but its seeds were sown way back in the year 1992 when Mr. K. Paul Thomas (Chief Promoter of ESMACO and Founder of ESAF Group of Social enterprises) started an NGO, ESAF Society. ESAF Society was established in Thrissur, Kerala in 1992, as a response to the social and economical needs of the unemployed youth and the underprivileged. The vision of the Forum was guided by the principle of sustainable holistic transformation of the poor and the marginalized. The founders of ESAF ventured into microfinancing in 1995, in Grameen Model by organizing self-sustainable groups, to alleviate poverty and generate employment. The Grameen Bank (GB) model is based on the voluntary formation of small groups of people to provide mutual, morally binding group guarantees in lieu of the collateral required by conventional banks. Women were given equal access to the finance for their entrepreneurial and business activities. Since then, ESAF has grown by leaps and bounds in the Microfinance sector, promoting microfinance as a viable, sustainable and effective means for creating jobs and reducing poverty, through ESAF Microfinance and Investments P Ltd from the year 2008 to 2017 and through ESAF Small Finance Bank Ltd from March 2017.